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Dozens of miners were trapped for several hours in Trepça/ Authorities launch investigations

2026-05-14 19:18:17, Kosova & Bota CNA

Dozens of miners were trapped for several hours in Trepça/ Authorities

Eighteen miners were trapped for about 12 hours at one of Kosovo's largest lead and zinc mines, in Stantërg near Mitrovica, on Thursday due to a power outage, prompting authorities to launch an investigation to understand the cause.

The miners were trapped hundreds of meters underground from 1:30 a.m. to around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, metallurgical giant Trepca announced.

Later, the acting Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, said on Facebook that all the trapped miners were safely evacuated and that they are in good health.

"The causes of the accident are being investigated by the relevant institutions," she wrote.

Izet Ibrahimi, a doctor of technical sciences, told Radio Free Europe that the infrastructure at the Stantërg mine is extremely outdated and requires urgent investments in vital parts, especially in the electricity network.

Ibrahimi, a professor at the Faculty of Geosciences at the "Isa Boletini" University in Mitrovica, said that institutions must "urgently" invest in the electricity network.

According to him, energy is not only an operational issue, but above all a security issue.

"Imagine if there was a power outage when the miners were on the ninth horizon, or when they were in the elevator going down to that horizon - that's dangerous," he said.

The company said that at the time of the power outage there were 47 workers in the mine, while 29 of them managed to leave and reach the surface.

"According to information from the field, a line conductor has been disconnected at the entrance to the flotation transformer, and as a result, the conductor insulators have been damaged, causing a fire in the transformer that supplies the flotation with electricity. Damage has also been identified in other conductor installations in the transformer," the announcement said.

The company said that workers stranded in Stantërg – located near Mitrovica – suffered no injuries, as crews worked to restore electricity supply.

Gani Osmani, representative of the Trepça Workers' Union, told REL that the rescue team was on standby.

"We are communicating with the miners, their condition is stable. The team is ready to respond or send them food, but the electricity problem is expected to be fixed soon," he stated earlier.

Teams from Trepça and the Kosovo Electricity Distribution Company (KEDS) worked to fix the problem so that the miners could exit using elevators.

Even in the past, miners were trapped in the Trepça mines due to problems with electricity, but also other troubles.

For example, in 2023, due to an electrical failure in an elevator, several miners were trapped hundreds of meters underground for several hours.

The Trepça Metallurgical Complex is a joint-stock company: 80 percent of the shares belong to the Government of Kosovo, 20 percent belong to the employees of this enterprise.

Miners' unions have often complained that miners work without adequate work equipment and in dangerous conditions./REL